For The Kids @ UTK

For The Kids @ UTK began as the UT Dance Marathon, first held in February 1996. UT’s program was modeled after a similar event that began in 1973 at Penn State University. Completely run by students, its first effort involved about 50 students and raised $5,000 for the Hematology and Oncology Clinic at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville. The event features dancing and a variety of other activities and operates in conjunction with the Children’s Miracle Network. By the end of eight years, the 24-hour event involved thousands of students and had raised more than $400,000 for the hospital. The first year (2002) the event raised more than $100,000. In 2014 the organization rebranded itself, changing its name and becoming a yearlong fundraising organization poised to have several smaller events, with its capstone event being the 12-hour celebration of children’s fights to overcome life-threatening diseases. In its first (2014) rebranded event, 292 people registered for the event, and $28,000 was raised for the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital Hematology and Oncology Clinic.